NET-117
Communications Guidelines
Waller County ARES training article
written by Christine Smith, N5CAS (sk)
edited by Paul Smith, K5PRS on 20 Feb 2026
Let’s face it, there are hundreds of people that can talk and talk and when they finally finish you ask yourself “what did they actually say?”
Within Emergency Communication you will have TWO different levels of communication. The first is in passing traffic on behalf of a served agency. This is known as formal traffic. Under those conditions you pass traffic EXACTLY as written. You change nothing. In some instances you will not understand what the message means. That is fine. Your job is to get the message to the destination as quickly as possible – not to understand it.
When you receive a message from a served agency, read it. If there is any part you cannot read, ask for clarification before accepting the message. You can’t accurately transcribe what you cannot read. When you transcribe a message from a served agency, MAKE NO CHANGES! It does not matter if you do not understand the technical meaning. It DOES matter that you pass traffic exactly as written.
Let’s revisit the last sentence. PASS TRAFFIC EXACTLY AS WRITTEN! If you are the author, make your corrections before you are ready to send. If ANYONE else initiated the message, MAKE NO CHANGES!
The second type of communication is where YOU originate the message, it is not written and where a written response is not required. This is commonly known as informal traffic. In that situation you control what the text of the message will be. Therefore phrasing is up to you. Plan your communications at least as well as you plan what you say when you know you will be quoted. When ever reasonable, write down what you will say before you say it.
In Emergency communication it is important to say as little as possible, yet convey all of the meaning. How can we do this?
1. Brevity and Clarity
The standing “rule of thumb” is – if you can leave a word out without changing the meaning, leave it out. If a description of an item will not add to the understanding of the subject of the message, leave it out. Do NOT use contractions within your messages. Words like “don’t” and “isn’t” are far too easy to confuse. Add to that the stress and confusion during an emergency and they WILL create problems.
2. Slow Down!
Hams in general tend to handle communications as quickly as they can. It has been proven again and again that a three or four second break between transmissions will actually result in information being passed more quickly. If this seems strange to you, take the time to listen to Police, Sheriff’s Office or Fire dispatch. They are able to convey large amounts of information very quickly because they maintain a slow, measured pace. In addition, the three or four second break between transmissions insures priority and emergency traffic can gain access to the net without requiring the largest signal on that frequency.
3. Do not editorialize
Literally hours can be lost by people inserting their opinion on unrelated subjects. What someone thinks about a ball game or the weather is irrelevant unless weather or the ball game is the subject being discussed.
4. Listen
The first requirement for communication is the ability to listen. But, you say, I can tell someone what is required without listening. Not really. Communication is the – two way – exchange of thoughts, ideas or information. Two way. That requires listening. An old timer once told me “A ham has two ears and one mouth. Therefore he should listen twice as much as he talks”. Makes sense. Communication will be acknowledged.
5. Standard ITU Phonetics
While it may take less effort to speak into a microphone and listen than to operate CW, it does take some care to quickly and accurately convey exact information. Speak distinctly at all times. If information is to be written, pace your speech accordingly. For critical information or under noisy conditions, spell words with standard ITU phonetics. ITU phonetics were chosen so that each word sounds completely different from all others. A list of ITU phonetics is available in the ARRL handbook and in the ARRL logbooks.
6. Numbers
Numbers are pronounced as individual digits. The number 509 is pronounced five – zero – nine, not five hundred nine and NOT five oh nine.
7. Formal written traffic
Insure you have asked all questions necessary to obtain the following information:
- Who is requesting and from whom?
- What is the requester’s full name/title/agency & location?
- What is the recipients full name/title/agency & location?
- What are they requesting and how many do they want/need?
- Is it a list or single item?
- If it’s a list, do all items come from the same place?
- If multiple sources then use multiple messages.
- Is the subject the transportation of an item, or the acquisition of that item, or both?
- Where will it come from (not always the same as the location of the person receiving the request)?
- Where will it go to (not always the same as the location of the person requesting the item(s))?
- When is it needed?
- Time/date as applicable
8. Getting the message through
To improve communications you need to improve the difference between the signal and the noise levels (signal to noise ratio) to achieve reliable communications. For our purposes here, noise is defined as any impediment to transmission or reception of information (messages). What form can this “noise” take? Some of the more common ones are:
- Static and background noise on the air
- Equipment or voice sLet’s face it—there are hundreds of people who can talk and talk, and when they finally finish, you find yourself asking, “What did they actually say?”
In emergency communication, that question should never come up.
Within Emergency Communications, you will encounter TWO different levels of communication.
1. Formal Traffic
The first involves passing traffic on behalf of a served agency. This is known as formal traffic. Under these conditions, you pass traffic EXACTLY as written. You change nothing.
In some instances, you may not understand what the message means. That is fine. Your job is to deliver the message accurately and quickly—not to interpret it, improve it, or “fix” it.
When you receive a written message from a served agency, read it carefully. If there is any part you cannot read, ask for clarification before accepting the message. You cannot accurately transcribe what you cannot read.
When you transcribe a message from a served agency, MAKE NO CHANGES. It does not matter if you do not understand the technical meaning. It does matter that you pass traffic exactly as written.
Let’s revisit that:
PASS TRAFFIC EXACTLY AS WRITTEN.
If you are the author, make your corrections before you are ready to send. If anyone else initiated the message—MAKE NO CHANGES.
This is not the time to become an editor, proofreader, or creative writer.
2. Informal Traffic
The second type of communication occurs when you originate the message, it is not written, and a written response is not required. This is known as informal traffic.
In this situation, you control the wording. That means phrasing is up to you. Plan your communications at least as carefully as you would if you knew you were going to be quoted later—because you just might be.
Whenever reasonable, write down what you plan to say before you say it. The microphone has a remarkable ability to magnify poor planning.
Principles of Effective Emergency Communication
1. Brevity and Clarity
The standing rule of thumb is:
If you can leave a word out without changing the meaning, leave it out.
If a description does not add to the understanding of the message, leave it out.
Do NOT use contractions in formal messages. Words like “don’t” and “isn’t” are far too easy to confuse—especially under stress. During an emergency, small misunderstandings can become very large problems.
Remember: clear and short beats long and confusing every time.
2. Slow Down!
Hams, in general, tend to handle communications as quickly as possible. However, it has been proven repeatedly that a three- or four-second pause between transmissions actually results in information being passed more efficiently.
If that seems strange, listen to police, sheriff, or fire dispatch. They communicate large amounts of information quickly because they maintain a slow, measured pace.
Those three- to four-second pauses also ensure that priority or emergency traffic can break in without requiring the strongest signal on the frequency.
Fast is smooth. Smooth is accurate. Accurate is fast.
3. Do Not Editorialize
Hours can be lost when people insert their opinions on unrelated subjects.
What someone thinks about a ball game or the weather is irrelevant—unless the weather or the ball game is the actual subject of the message.
Your opinion may be fascinating. This is simply not the time.
4. Listen
The first requirement for communication is the ability to listen.
You may think you can tell someone what is required without listening. Not really. Communication is a two-way exchange of thoughts, ideas, or information.
Two-way. That requires listening.
An old-timer once said:
“A ham has two ears and one mouth. Therefore, he should listen twice as much as he talks.”
Makes sense.
5. Standard ITU Phonetics
Speaking into a microphone may take less effort than operating CW, but it still requires care to convey exact information quickly and accurately.
Speak distinctly at all times.
If information must be written down, pace your speech accordingly.
For critical information or noisy conditions, spell words using standard ITU phonetics. ITU phonetics were designed so that each word sounds distinctly different from the others.
A list of ITU phonetics can be found in the ARRL Handbook and ARRL logbooks.
When clarity matters, “Alpha” beats “A… you know… A like Apple.”
6. Numbers
Numbers are pronounced as individual digits.
509 is pronounced:
Five – Zero – Nine
Not “five hundred nine.”
Not “five oh nine.”
Individual digits eliminate confusion.
7. Formal Written Traffic Checklist
Ensure you have obtained the following:
Who is requesting the item, and from whom?
What is the requester’s full name, title, agency, and location?
What is the recipient’s full name, title, agency, and location?
What is being requested, and how many are needed?
Is it a single item or a list?
If it is a list, do all items come from the same source?
If multiple sources are involved, use multiple messages.
Is the subject transportation, acquisition, or both?
Where will it come from? (Not always the same as the requester’s location.)
Where will it go? (Not always the same as the sender’s location.)
When is it needed?
Include time and date, as applicable.
Details matter. “Send supplies ASAP” is not a complete message.
8. Getting the Message Through
To improve communications, you must improve the difference between the signal and the noise (signal-to-noise ratio).
For our purposes, “noise” includes anything that impedes transmission or reception of information.
Common forms of noise include:
Static and background interference on the air
Equipment or voice sounds around you
Poor lighting that makes reading difficult
And, occasionally, “loose cannon” tempers
Yes—attitudes can be noise, too.
In emergency communications, clarity, discipline, and professionalism matter.
The goal is simple:
Say exactly what needs to be said—no more, no less—and make sure it is understood the first time.
If we do that, no one will ever finish listening to us and ask,
“What did they actually say?ounds around you - Inappropriate amount of light
- “Loose cannon” tempers
That concludes tonight’s training. Are there any questions, comments or suggested additions to this material?
Thanks, this is (callsign) clear to net control.
Send corrections, modifications, updates or suggestions to k5prs@aol.com